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How can you tell Asheville's on the brink of becoming a cocktail destination? At least seven local distillers should be at work by the end of the year. But the city also boasts Asheville Cocktail Week, the first of its kind in the Southeast.

The weeklong celebration of spirits presents myriad opportunities to sample cocktails made by local and imported talent. Julian Goglia from the Pinewood in Decatur, for example, will step behind the bar at Asheville's own Sovereign Remedies to share a bit of Atlanta style May 3.

There's a curated selection of special dinners, like one very limited-seating Courvoisier dinner at Table and a Polynesian-themed dinner at Cucina 24 with plenty of Cruzan rum.

Again this year is a bourbon-soaked Kentucky Derby party. And Elixir returns to the Grove Arcade for a night of cocktail competition and tastings.

There's plenty to see and do, but this year's Asheville Cocktail Week is perhaps most notable because of its focus on lifting up the Asheville spirits scene from behind the scenes.

A strong educational element infuses this year's festivities, with industry-only events including cocktail and social media workshops, according to Cocktail Week organizer and event mastermind Kris Kraft. "I feel like we very often ask so much of service industry people, but how often do we bring something for them to get something in return? We wanted to be mindful of making sure that they were gaining and gleaning in addition to giving."

To that end, a Cocktail Week kickoff event geared toward industry professionals focuses on the importance of having a local chapter of the United States Bartenders' Guild. The USBG works to enrich members with skills for career advancement through various means, including expert instruction, service projects and competition.

Knowledge, the guild asserts, is power. The group sponsors intimate seminars with internationally recognized brand representatives and forges relationships between top bar talent in member cities.

For Asheville consumers, that spells an even further elevated citywide cocktail scene, a way to net the types of awards and recognition chiefly heaped on the local food and beer sectors."That's our hope," Kraft said. "That we train our people in a way that is meaningful enough to get that attention."

Charlie Hodge, owner of Sovereign Remedies, helped found an independent bartenders guild in Portland. He said such a group can serve as a center point for idea-sharing and resources, like an Asheville Independent Restaurant Association for bartenders.

Hodge said he and his Portland brethren aimed to unify local bartenders, and weren't interested in joining the national guild at the time. But he said the reasons to have a local chapter of the USBG in Asheville are many. "One, it's about building community," he said. "Two, it's about trying to show there something cool going on in town."

Further, the USBG network of bartenders is deep. Communing with bar professionals on the national scene might help Asheville with its image as a city that does beer right, but might not be able to hold its liquor. "To let people know there's an amazing cocktail scene here is one of our missions," Hodge said.

Smoky Park Supper Club bar manager Luke Danner is also a proponent of starting an Asheville USBG chapter. "We've been a food, drink and dining destination for a long time, and we're kind of falling behind as far as having a unified group push the beverage scene," he said.

While brewers have the Asheville Brewers Alliance as well as the North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild, the spirit scene does not have as much in the way of group advocacy for efforts as complex as easing laws governing state distilleries and as small — but important — as working to have bright-orange “tax paid” stickers affixed to the back of liquor bottles instead of the front.

Scenes from last year's Derby party. This year's will take place at Banks Avenue on the South Slope.(Photo: Jim Donohoo, Jim Donohoo Photography)

"It's sometimes the small things," Danner said. "But since we don't have the unified voice to bring that to the right folks, we've just been twiddling our thumbs."

But getting involved with the USBG can bring big changes, too, including connecting members with national and local charity initiatives. "Getting things like fundraisers started and being a voice in the community," Danner explained. "And it's not just open to service industry members. Anyone can join up and have a voice."

The USBG Chapter initiation event of Asheville Cocktail Week covers the importance of having a local group come together. It's 11 a.m.-1 p.m. May 1 at The Center for Craft Creativity and Design at 67 Broadway St.

The event is geared toward service-industry members. However, the guild does allow memberships for Associate Members and Enthusiasts, with the latter open to anyone who supports the mission of the USBG, but derives no regular income from the hospitality industry and supports the Guild for personal enrichment. More at usbg.org.

Scenes from last year's Derby party. This year's will take place at Banks Avenue on the South Slope.(Photo: Jim Donohoo, Jim Donohoo Photography)

ASHEVILLE COCKTAIL WEEK HIGHLIGHTS

Here are just a few of the events May 1-6. See the full schedule of events and get tickets to some of the events at www.carolinacocktailweek.com.

May 2: 7-10 p.m., second annual Polynesian Dinner with Cruzan Rums. Chef Brian Canipelli prepares a four-course meal paired with cocktails by bartender Donnie Pratt. $50 per person, not including tax or gratuity.Reservations at 828-254-6170.

May 3: Bar takeover at Sovereign Remedies with Julian Goglia from Pinewood Atlanta, open to the public, but with limited space. 10 p.m.-1 a.m.

May 4: Elixir returns for its 5th year. This year's event at the Grove Arcade is 7:30-9:30 p.m. The public can watch and taste as mixologists and spirit specialists demo and provide sample drinks in a structured, competition-style forum. Foothills provides food. $35.

May 5: A tequila-focused bar takeover at Mamacitas Taco Temple features Fernando Avila, Master Distiller of Casa Sauza. Taste and learn the history of classic tequila cocktails. Taco Temple will pair each tequila with a ceviche. The $42 ticket is all-inclusive. 7:30-10 p.m.

May 6: UPDATED WITH NEW LOCATION: Maker's Mark sponsors this dress-to-impress Derby party at Post 70 Indulgence Bar, 1155 E. Tunnel Road. Two drinks, plus food and derby watching included in $40 ticket.

TRY THESE ASHEVILLE DISTILLERIES

Apothecary Beverage Company: Under construction at 151 Coxe Ave. Makers of spirits under The Chemist label. Gin will be the flagship product, with a single-malt whiskey, others to come.